Stefani MacLeod was born in the late 1900s and let the whimsical faerie obsession of that era completely get to her head. A fan of sci-fi, folklore, aliens, and cryptids, she’s determined to make a name for herself breeding Magical Creatures and telling stories. Though she works with many different species, she’s always happy to pepper you with facts about her latest obsession.
Currently you can find her researching Gryphons in Southern California with her husband, daughter, and Schipperke.
All the extra Moss and Moonshine content wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for the Art Dolls!
Our handmade magical creatures are the heart and soul of Moss and Moonshine, and we love that we get to make them and place them in good homes with loving Creature Keepers. They’re definitely different and eye catching, and not many people know what to make of them at first. If you’re in this category, don’t panic! We have all the answers for just what exactly you are looking at right here.
WHAT IS AN ARTDOLL??
Great question! For those who are uninitiated into the fantastic world of Artdolls, let us help you get on the same page as the rest of us art nerds: an Artdoll is a type of Designer Toy made by an artist, using multimedia materials and meant to be collected and appreciated as a work of fine art by adult collectors (despite often looking similar to a mass produced toy!).
Did I lose you already?
Lets simplify it a bit more: artdolls are artwork that is meant to be played with.
Menagerie artdolls in particular are largely pose-able. That means one doll can be moved around and hold a variety of different positions. This makes taking photographs of them very fun- with so many poses you can really make them look alive!
Now that you’re initiated into the weird world of artdolls, I bet I can guess your next burning question…
WHAT ARE YOUR ARTDOLLS MADE OF?
Because the world of artdolls is so large, and varied, some artists may use materials like polymerclay, ceramics, hot glue, fabric, hair, beads, faux fur, and resin to create their own masterpieces.
Here at the Menagerie our dolls are made from urethane resin, faux fur, polyfil stuffing, and plastic cup and socket armature.
Basically, to make a doll, we start the process by sculpting the creature in Monsterclay. From there the creature in cut up into ‘body parts’ which will be covered in silicone to make a mold. We then use this mold of our original sculpture to cast multiple versions of the doll in urethane resin. Each body part will be hand-painted with acrylic paint, and sealed with a weather-resistant sealer. These body parts are then attached to a plastic skeleton, and that skeleton is fitted inside a sewn faux fur body and glued into place. The body is stuffed with polyfil and viola! A magical creature is born.
Sounds like a lot of work doesn’t it? That thought will lead us to our next question…
WHY DO YOUR DOLLS COST SO MUCH?
See the above answer! A lot of hours of work go into making each and every creature. We do not outsource any of the production process; everything is done in-house, by hand, by just the two of us. We like it this way because we feel it allows us to make sure you get the highest quality, most unique possible product. But it sure is a lot of work! And the price of each doll reflects that.
So now you know what an artdoll is, how we make our artdolls, and why they cost what they do! If you’re still with me, you might be wondering…
HOW DO I BUY ONE OF YOUR DOLLS?
I wish it was as simple as telling you to just visit our shop page. I really do. Unfortunately, because our dolls are handmade, they usually sell out pretty quickly and you’ll see a lot of SOLD OUT tags in our shop on a regular basis. I said it before, and I’m going to repeat myself here: DON’T PANIC. There are two reliable ways to obtain one of our dolls.
1. CREATURE RELEASES. These are events we have once a week to once every other week. Small batches of pre-made, ready-to-ship dolls go up for sale in our shop and collectors can purchase them on a first-come, first-serve basis. Creature Releases mostly consist of our dolls that are under $300, which we do not usually take pre-orders for. This includes Fairy Dragon Grubs, Cockatrice Chicks, and mini figures. Sometimes demand is high during a release, and the creature you want sells out before you can grab it. I am currently offering Instagram Subscriptions for $5 a month to get access to Early Creature Releases the night before. If you’re after one of our bigger dolls that’s over $200, you might be disappointed to find they rarely appear in Creature Releases. That’s because you can get them through…
2. PRE-ORDERS. I have pre-order events every few months on popular designs such as the large grubs. Pre-orders depend on what I have time to offer, and what’s currently in demand. A pre-order is a doll you pay for ahead of time, and then is made for you. Most of my pre-orders have a turnaround time of 8 WEEKS to be made. Check my instagram page for info on what pre-orders are coming up soon.
We also sometimes take custom color requests on pre-order items, so if you have one, email us through our CONTACT PAGE to get the ball rolling.
I hope you found this breakdown helpful- I know I was plenty intimidated the first time I tried to buy from an independent artist! Once you learn the ropes it isn’t so scary, and we bet you’ll come back for creatures again and again <3